Childhood Trauma And The Development Of Impulse Control Disorders.

If, as adults, we find we have poor impulse control, this may be, in large part, due to the legacy of a disturbed and traumatic childhood. For example, those who have suffered severe and chronic childhood trauma are more likely to suffer from conditions such as borderline personality disorder (BPD) and anti-social personality disorder (APD) than the average person and both these conditions include impulsiveness as one of the symptoms.

If a person is impulsive it means s/he often acts prematurely with insufficient planning and lack of thoughtful deliberation; importantly, too, impulsiveness (when it is pathological) involves repeated efforts to make short-term gains but at the expense of long-term gains.

Neurochemical Involvement:

Theories also exist that suggest people who suffer from impulse-control disorders are likely to have lower than normal levels of the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin in their brains.

The Possible Role Of Genes:

It is also thought that the dopamine receptor and serotonin receptor genes may be involved in impulse-control disorders which would, of course, follow from the above.

Risk Taking And Decision Making :

Below I outline a study that suggests that childhood trauma can impair our ability to make decisions and accurately assess risk, both of which deficits are linked to impulsiveness.

The Study – Part One :

Part One of a study conducted by Professor Seth Pollak (University of Wisconsin-Madison) involving over 50 young people (from a range of backgrounds and all approximately 20 years of age), required the participants to engage in various tasks (for example, simulated gambling) in order to ascertain their behavioral responses reward / punishment and risk-taking.

Results Part One Of The Study :

It was found that those who had experienced trauma / severe stress as children had impaired ability to make good decisions and to accurately assess risk compared to those young people who had not experienced trauma / severe stress while growing up ; especially noteworthy was the finding that, whilst participating in such tasks, those individuals who had experienced trauma / severe stress as children showed a marked inability to learn from their mistakes as well as poor levels of concentration.

Brain Scans :

Whilst the participants were in the ‘decision making’ phase of the task, scans of their brains were taken ; these scans revealed that the individuals who had experienced trauma / severe stress during childhood displayed BELOW NORMAL ACTIVITY in the area of the brain associated with decision making.

Part Two Of The Study :

The second part of the study was intended to discover how the same group of over 50 young people behaved in real life in relation to decision making.

This was carried out by giving the participants a questionnaire to fill out which comprised various questions about how much risk they took (e.g. do you wear a seat-belt?).

Results Of Part Two Of The Study :

The results of this part of the study were very similar to those found from the first part of the study, i.e. the participants who had suffered trauma / severe stress during childhood made worse decisions / indulged in riskier behaviors in real life compared to the participants who had not experienced trauma / severe stress during childhood.

It was also found that these deficits in decision-making ability were unrelated to I.Q. or intelligence. Because of this, Pollak alikened such deficits to a specific ‘learning disability’ which impairs individuals’ ability to effectively process information relating to potential loss or risk.

Implications For Youth Justice System :

Pollak also points out that up to 90 per cent of young people who become embroiled with the criminal justice system have experienced childhood trauma, and, if they do indeed have a kind of specific ‘learning disability’ (as described above and as the findings of this study suggest) then, in many cases, punishment is neither appropriate nor a solution.

Instead, Pollak suggests that, when dealing with young offenders, it will often be far better for these individuals to participate in training programs that improve the brain’s decision making capabilities.

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